Year: 2008

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You May Now Kiss the Groom (in CA)

A very happy wedding day to all the Californians who are finally able to get married to the ones they love.

It’s unfortunate how much a basic civil right has to be fought for, & unfortunate in so many ways (and not even the ones Mattilda goes into).

And I know many people are bothered by it because it’s not an economic issue, and that more than anything, LGBT people need employment non-discrimination protection. And we do, we do. But I’ll make this argument, as a legally married queer: marriage is also an economic pact. It’s not romantic, but it is something. It’s about being able to be a dependent on your spouse’s health insurance (which saves you money). It’s about being able to live together (which saves you money). It’s about getting Social Security benefits. Amongst other things.

So congratulations, bride & bride, and groom & groom: you may now fight with your spouse about money, & forever have your credit record linked to theirs.

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Interview: Helen & Betty

Nancy Nangeroni & Gordene MacKenzie, who used to bring you GenderTalk, are now bringing you GenderVision. We were up in their neck of the woods last fall and did an interview with them for GenderVision, which they’ve now got up at their website, www.gendervision.org.

A lot of our conversation is about partner advocacy within the trans community, the role of partners, and transitioning from within a committed relationship. It’s a lengthy interview, about an hour, and amazingly enough Betty talks quite a bit about her own partner advocacy, and why she speaks so little about her own experience.

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Good Enough for Government Work

Lewis Black on the US government delivering veterans’ checks up to two years late: “I can access three million vaginas in two minutes, and they can’t get the veterans their check? What century am I living in?”

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Allies, Family & Partners

I wanted to point out a new section of my links/blogroll, which is for allies, family & partners. Right now it’s got Abigail Garner’s Damn Straight, Monica CL’s A Seat on the SOFFA, Annie Rushden’s Gardens in Bloom, COLAGE’S Kids of Trans pages, Jonni P’s Trans Married, and PFLAG’s TNET.

If people know of other partners, allies, or family members who regularly blog on glbT issues, do let me know so I can add them. Please, not just LGB allies; they have to regularly address trans issues and need to be currently blogging with some consistency and some history.

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Fierce Kitty

Aurora, despite having been declawed by whoever lived with her before us, still has the habits of a cat with claws. She is all ferocity, no?

I love the way her tail kind of fades into the wood flooring, but then the little white tip hangs there in space.

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Gobama!

I feel a little stupid admitting this, but I’m actually feeling tenuously excited about being an American again.

But every once in a while, America does something so radical, so out of the ordinary — something that old, encrusted, traditional societies like those in the Middle East could simply never imagine — that it revives America’s revolutionary “brand” overseas in a way that no diplomat could have designed or planned.

It’s that America I hope to see re-emerging with Obama’s presidency, and internationally, I think it’s already good news. I traveled quite a lot to other countries before we destroyed our international reputation with Abu Ghraib and Guantanomo (amongst other things) and I’d like to do so again without people hating me due to being an American. (Although, interestingly, just saying you’re from New York, & not America per se, grants a person more respect abroad.)

But the attacks from McCain have already started, of course: that Obama is essentially running for Carter’s 2nd term. And wow does that scare the more conservative democrats. But I’m just gonna say this once: um, wasn’t Carter right? Would we be in Iraq if we’d done the energy independence stuff he wanted to do in the 70s? Didn’t he negotiate with Iran for the hostages? Don’t get me wrong: ineffective leadership is bad all the way around, but you know, after the last however many years of opportunist nihilism we’ve experienced, an idealist well-versed in empowering rhetoric seems like a great antidote. Obama’s got a lot of leadership skills that Carter didn’t have, but what makes America work, in my humble opinion, is when Americans are inspired. And Obama does that, for a lot of people. What’s better is that he seems to be inspiring other politicians as well, and that bodes well.

So who’s your vote for VP?